Deloitte Makes Predictions For 2014 Holiday Sales
By Cheryl Knight, contributing writer
U.S. Christmas sales are set to increase by up to 4 percent over 2013 numbers, according to Deloitte’s annual retail holiday sales forecast. This represents a greater increase over the 2.8 percent seen for the 2013 holiday season and equates to a growth of anywhere from $981 to $986 billion this upcoming holiday season.
Reasons For The Increased Growth
Some of the drivers behind the increased growth in sales are higher income and wage and job growth. With the debt levels of consumers at an all-time low, consumers have more income to spend during the holiday season. Coupled with the confidence inspired by increasing home prices and big stock market gains, and this holiday season looks to be a big one for retailers.
Online Sales
Online and mail order sales should also see an increase of 13.5 to 14 percent. According to Alison Paul, the vice chairman of Deloitte, in a Retail Solutions Online article, “While online sales continue to climb, digital customer interactions through both virtual and physical store channels present greater sales opportunities than online or mobile commerce alone.”
She further added, “Our research indicates that 84 percent of shoppers use digital tools before and during their trip to a store. Additionally, those shoppers convert, or make a purchase, at a 40 percent higher rate than those who do not use such devices during their shopping journey.”
The Effect Of Mobile Device Use On In-Store Sales
With digital sales expected to influence $345 billion, or 50 percent, in physical retail store sales, it provides an interesting correlation of how the use of desktops and mobile devices can affect sales within brick-and-mortar locations. These figures are estimated using Deloitte’s digital influence factor, which measures the effect of digital devices on retail store sales through November of the year in question and January of the following year using U.S. Commerce Department data.
When trying to increase sales, your merchant customers need to look at using the right functionality of devices as opposed to using more functionality, according to Paul. This boils down to helping consumers make a purchasing decision based on price comparison, what items are currently available, and where consumers can find them in the store, as opposed to offering customers their full suite of e-commerce services.